Rhee Chang-yong, the Bank of Korea governor, said on the 20th that he plans to continue economic commentary and advisory work, as he has done, regarding his future path.
He visited the press room right after the farewell ceremony held at the Bank of Korea in Jung-gu, Seoul, on the morning of the same day and stated accordingly. On speculation that he would launch a personal YouTube channel, he said it was something he joked about that newspapers wrote as if it were serious, adding that which outlet to speak through can be chosen depending on what message will be delivered.
He picked 2024 as the most difficult moment related to interest rate decisions. That was when the Bank of Korea (BOK) was said to have missed the timing to lower rates and a misstep theory emerged. Rhee said that even though he explained that rates were not lowered in consideration of financial stability as well as prices, there were continued criticisms for a while that it was a misstep. He added that now, conversely, with a change of administration, the tone has suddenly shifted and some say rates were cut too much, causing the exchange rate and the real estate market to jump. Rhee said that seeing criticism from both sides made him think it was in the middle, and that the Monetary Policy Board members seemed to have made good decisions.
He cited the response process after the Dec. 3 emergency martial law as the most rewarding moment. Rhee said he received a great many inquiries from foreign media at the time, and that in interviews with foreign media then, he responded with the logic that if the Constitutional Court functioned properly, the economy and politics could be separated.
On the Middle East war, he said that as the situation changes daily, it seems extremely difficult to determine which direction it will go. He added that at the G20 finance ministers and Central Bank governors meeting held in Washington from the 13th of this month, there were also comments that no one knew how the Middle East situation would calm down. Rhee added that the cybersecurity issue sparked by Anthropic's Mythos was also a major topic.